Dorsa Derakhshani, Iranian Chess Master, Switches To US Team Over Headscarf Rule

An Iranian chess player who was removed from the national chess team for allegedly attending an international competition without wearing the Islamic headscarf has joined the United States chess team, reports said Monday.

Dorsa Derakhshani, 19, was removed from the Iranian national chess team after she wore a headband instead of a headscarf at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival held in the British territory in February, the New York Post reported, citing an Iranian news agency. Derakhshani had finished 118^th out of 225 in the Gibraltar event.

The report also said Derakhshani's younger brother, Borna Derakhshani, too was removed from the Iranian team after he competed against an Israeli in the same event in February. Iran does not recognize Israel as a state and Iranians are therefore prohibited from competing against Israeli athletes at all sports events.

“As a first step, these two will be denied entry to all tournaments taking place in Iran, and, in the name of Iran, they will no longer be allowed the opportunity to be present on the national team. Unfortunately, what shouldn't have happened has happened. Our national interests have priority over everything. We're considering measures that will prevent similar incidents from taking place in future tournaments,” Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, president of Iran’s chess federation said at the time.

According to a Seattle Times report, Pahlevanzadeh confirmed Monday that Derakhshani had joined the United States chess team. However, he clarified that Derakhshani was not a part of the Iran chess team prior to joining the U.S. team and that she had just played for Iran once in 2014.

“She played for Iran only one time in 2014,” Pahlevanzadeh said.

Speaking about Derakhshani, Shohreh Bayat, the general secretary of Iranian chess team, said: “(Dorsa) Derakhshani has not become a member of the U.S. national chess team; she just changed her federation to the United States.”

Derakhshani has won three gold medals at the Asian Youth Chess Championships in 2012, 2013, and 2014. She was also awarded the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) and International Grandmaster (IM) titles in 2016. She also qualified for the FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation) Trainer title in 2016. She is also an accredited FIDE journalist.

As a part of the U.S. chess team, Derakhshani is expected to join Nazi Paikidze-Barnes, a Russian-born Georgian-American chess player who holds FIDE WGM and IM titles. She has also won the U.S. women’s championship in 2016. Paikidze had refused to participate in the Women’s World Chess Championship held in Tehran, Iran, in February to protest against the country’s hijab law that makes it mandatory for all women to wear hijab in public places.

“I think it’s unacceptable to host a WOMEN’S World Championship in a place where women do not have basic fundamental rights and are treated as second-class citizens. For those saying that I don't know anything about Iran: I have received the most support and gratitude from the people of Iran, who are facing this situation every day,” Paikidze wrote in an Instagram post in September 2016.